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Shares in French investment bank Natixis recovered after a 14% fall in early trading as the underwriters of its â¬3.7bn ($5.4bn) rights issue began offloading the small rump of unsubscribed shares via an accelerated bookbuild process after a "rollercoaster" five days in the market last week.

A source at one of the underwriting banks said that the two days before the close of the rights issue last Thursday were "horrendous" as institutions waited until the last minute to decide whether or not to subscribe, but in the end the deal was completed with 97% take up by shareholders.

Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse were lead managers of the offering and Lazard-Natixis was also an adivser. The banks will place the outstanding 57.3 million Natixis shares with existing and new shareholders during the course of today.

Shares in Natixis stood at €2.83 at 10:04 GMT today, having fallen to a low of €2.51 in early trading. The shares traded above the rights price of €2.25, a 61% discount to their close on September 3, throughout the offer process, reaching a low of €2.45 on September 18, the final day for subscriptions to the share offering.

The bank's two controlling shareholders subscribed for their full allocation of new shares, which amounted to 70% of the offering. However, they said in advance that they did not want to increase their holding by subscribing for any additional shares as they wanted Natixis to maintain a free float of 30%. "It was important for the controlling shareholders to show support without increasing their holding,"the source said.

Dominique Ferrero, chief executive of Natixis, said: “The success of this rights issue in the context of a severe global financial crisis confirms that our existing and new shareholders are confident with Natixis’ economic model and in its potential for growth.

"It also shows that they believe in our revised strategic plan and that they support the company’s management to carry it through. With this new inflow, we have just passed an important milestone in Natixis’ history and we are now focusing on developing our most profitable and least volatile business lines.”